Inductively coupled power and data transmission system

ABSTRACT

An inductively coupled power and data transmission system include a main power source, apparel having an electrical conductor in electrical communication with the main power source, the apparel having a first inductively couplable power and data transmission sub-system to regulate power to the primary coil or coils and transmission of power and data by the primary coil or coils and reception of data by the primary coil or coils, and an independent device having a second inductively couplable power and data transmission sub-system so as to regulate reception of power and data by the secondary coil or coils and transmission of data from a secondary processor by the secondary coil or coils. The first and second primary coils transfer said power and data during inductive coupling, at electromagnetic radiation frequencies, between the first primary coil or coils and the secondary coil or coils.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part from my U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/922,788 entitled Contactless Battery ChargingApparel and from United States continuation-in-part patent applicationfiled Sep. 29, 2010 entitled Vehicle Seat Inductive Charger And DataTransmitter. This application claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/272,621 filed Oct. 13, 2009 entitled SoldierSystem Wireless Data Transmission,

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of wireless devices using magneticinductive coupling and in particular to a wireless power and datatransmission system for use in a soldier system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the development of future soldier systems by many countries therehas been a significant increase in the number of electronic devices thatare being carried by soldiers. Some of these devices are stand alone anddo not require communication to operate. Devices such as flashlight,laser aiming device or laser dazzler etc. need only be provided withbattery power to function. Other devices including various videodisplays such as GPS, heads up displays, PDA type displays; or inputdevices such as a computer mouse or pointing device, keyboard;input-output devices such as microphone headsets, all require the use ofcables to communicate with a central computer or between themselves. Insome cases these devices may also draw power from the communicationscable.

All of these devices require complex cable and wiring harnesses whichare heavy, thick and stiff terminated with a variety of connectors, andthat as a system create a myriad of human factor and mechanical issueswhen loads such as packs are placed over them. Individual wires arefrequently subject to failure within the wiring harness as well as thedocumented high failure rate of connectors. In addition, the weapon subsystem and helmet subsystem support many electronic devices which mustcommunicate with and in some cases receive power from the torso. Cableswhich run between the weapon and helmet and the soldiers torso aretypically called umbilicals or tethers. These cables can be verylimiting, frequently catching or snagging on anything from doorknobs tovehicle attachments and corners as well as branches in the forest. Whenthe cables snag they can either harm the soldier as his forward movementis suddenly stopped; restrain him so he cannot obtain cover from fire,or the cable is violently pulled from its socket frequently causingdamage to either end of the connector or the cable itself even when theconnector is of a quick release design.

As taught to us by recent events, soldiers in present and future warsand police and domestic agencies controlling riots or hostage typesituations employ Radio Frequency (RF) jamming devices to prevent theactivation and use of various radio devices. In domestic applicationsthis may be the use of cellular phones that would be used for verbalcommunication or as a triggering device for an explosive. In militaryapplications the RF jammer can be used to protect individual soldiers,but more typically is used to protect individual vehicles or convoys ofvehicles in areas that have been laid with Improvised Explosive Devices(IED's) that are detonated remotely by radio frequency by a variety ofsimple transmitters.

It is also now common place to employ wide area high power or local arealow power portable RF jamming equipment to deny the use of RF equipmentby opposing forces. The RF jammers protect soldiers within differentareas of a protective bubble from the RF detonation of road side bombsor IED's, however it also eliminates the use of low power RFcommunications such as Bluetooth™, Zigbee™ or WiFi etc. Jammers work inall types of environments. Threats from RF IED attacks are not justlimited to desert warfare, but may also occur in shopping malls, officebuildings, airports, bus stations, and other urban targets.

The modern soldier has a wealth of radio equipment that is critical forinter and intra squad communication as well as between the squad andforward operating bases and rear command centers. This entire radionetwork is used for voice, data, still video image and streaming videodata image transmission in both directions as either information beingcommunicated out of the battle zone or command and control informationbeing directed into the battle area. Collectively this capability isknown as C4I or command, control, communications, computers, and(military) intelligence and also as C4ISR command, control,communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, andreconnaissance.

A method of, and apparatus for, providing a data communicationscapability on a soldier system in a RF denied area that is wireless, andwhich is not susceptible to radio frequency jamming, and cannot beintercepted at distance employs the transmission of data magneticallythrough inductive coupling. It is proposed herein that both power anddata be transmitted inductively on the soldier. Not only would thisallow the transfer of power and data without wires, tethers orumbilicals to the various devices of the soldier, but more importantlyit would allow the local transmission of data on the soldier that cannotthen be intercepted or in an area that has been denied RF communicationeither because of enemy, allied or self generated RF jamming.

I hereby incorporate by reference my U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/922,788 (Publication No. 20090218884) entitled “Contactless BatteryCharging Apparel”. The application describes sequential powertransmission between a central power source carried on a soldier orperson that is distributed through a wiring harness or conductive fabricworn on the soldier to inductive nodes located at various locations ontorso of the soldier. The inductive power transfer nodes allow thetransfer of power to rechargeable batteries in electronic devicesdistributed on the soldier without having physical contact or wiresbetween the soldier and the components. The inductively coupled primaryand secondary coils allow the transfer of power based on air coretransformer theory.

Open platform inductive Near Field Communications (NFC) architecture isknown. Prior art related to on-body inductive or near fieldcommunication however focuses on two applications. Both the patent toPalermo (U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,366 B2) entitled “Inductive CommunicationSystem and Method” and the patent to Lair (U.S. Pat. No. 7,149,552 B2)entitled “Wireless Headset for Communications Device” employ inductivenear field communications to provide inductive coupling between handheld radios and a microphone/speaker or headsets.

A patent application by Devaul (US Patent Application Publication No.2006/0224048 A1) entitled “Wearable Personal Area Data Network”describes the application of NFC to allow the communication between amaster node or hub and remote node physiological sensors mounted on thebody. The data communicated wirelessly from the sensors is analysed bythe master node to determine the health status or mobility of thewearer. One application of the technology identified is placement of thesystem on a soldier to allow remote interrogation of a soldier on thebattlefield to determine his health status and allow for earlier combatcasualty care if so indicated. A patent application by Dinn (US PatentApplication 2008/0227390 A1) entitled “Method and System for RelayingSignals from a Magneto-Inductive System Through a Voice Band System”,describes a man-portable station that can communicate through earth orrock using magneto-inductive transfer. The system enables secure lowbaud rate data and voice communications for users separated by line ofsight obstacles located underground, underwater, or in dense urbanenvironments. Vehicle-mounted systems are capable of providing securecommunications over longer ranges. The operating frequency is between300 Hz to 3 kHz and requires an antenna of at least 3 m in diameter laidon the ground. The device is commercially available under the Trade Mark“Rock Phone”. None of the prior art envision the application of NFC toprovide wireless communication within a soldier system as describedwithin this patent application.

When data is to be transferred from one electronic device to another orbetween a source and a receiver, there are four basic coupling methodsthat can be used. The basic arrangement of source, coupling path andreceiver is shown in FIG. 1, where source and receiver are electronichardware devices.

The four basic coupling mechanisms are: conductive, radiative,capacitive, and magnetic or inductive. Any coupling path may be brokendown into one or more of these coupling mechanisms working together.Conductive coupling occurs when the coupling path between the source ortransmitter 20 and receiver 22 is formed by direct contact with aconductor 21, for example a wire, cable, electronic textile (power anddata backplane), or PCB trace. Radiative coupling or electromagneticcoupling occurs when the source or transmitter 23 and receiver 25 areseparated by a large distance, typically more than a wavelength. Thesource radiates via an antenna an electromagnetic wave 24 whichpropagates across an open space and is picked up by the receiver.Radiative coupling is used by radios, wireless modems, Bluetooth™,Zigbee™ enabled devices etc. Inductive coupling occurs where the sourceor transmitter 29 and receiver 31 are separated by a short distance,that is within the near field of the transmission frequency. Inductivecoupling can be of two kinds, electrical induction and magneticinduction. It is common to refer to electrical induction as capacitivecoupling, and to magnetic induction as inductive coupling. Capacitivecoupling between a transmitter 26 and receiver 28 occurs when a varyingelectrical field exists between two adjacent conductors 27 typicallylocated within the near field, inducing a change in voltage across thegap. Inductive coupling or magnetic coupling occurs when a varyingmagnetic field 30 exists between two adjacent conductors usually coils,located within the near field, inducing a change in voltage in thereceiving conductor or coil.

Inductive or magnetic coupling has been used in Radio FrequencyIdentification Devices (RFID's). At the basic level in an RFID aninterrogator or primary circuit generates an alternating magnetic fieldthat inductively couples with a transponder. The transponder orsecondary circuit can be passive whereby it derives electrical energyfrom the magnetic coupling allowing it to transmit simple modulated datastreams or it can be an active transponder. An active transponder hasits own battery power source allowing it to both transmit backinductively to the interrogator a larger modulated data stream over agreater distance. There are two basic frequency ranges used byinductively coupled RFID devices, low frequency principally operatesbetween 100-500 khz, and high frequency operates at a center frequencyof 13.56 Mhz.

SUMMARY

In summary, the inductively coupled power and data transmissions systemfor a soldier system according to the present invention may becharacterized as including in one aspect:

a) a main power source adapted for portable wearing by a soldier,

b) apparel having an electrical conductor mounted therein in electricalcommunication with the main power source, the apparel having a firstinductively couplable power and data transmission sub-system includingat least one electrically conductive primary coil electrically connectedto the main power source by the electrical conductor, and furtherincluding a primary processor and a primary transmitter/receiversub-system cooperating between the main power source and the primarycoil or coils so as to regulate power to the primary coil or coils andtransmission of power and data by the primary coil or coils andreception of data by the primary coil or coils,

c) an independent device having a second inductively couplable power anddata transmission sub-system including at least one electronicallyconductive secondary coil, a secondary battery, a secondary processor,and a secondary transmitter/receiver sub-system, wherein the secondarycoil or coils are electrically connected to its or their secondarybattery and wherein the secondary processor and the secondarytransmitter/receiver sub-system cooperate between the correspondingsecondary battery and the corresponding secondary coil or coils so as toregulate reception of power and data by the secondary coil or coils andtransmission of data from the secondary processor by the secondary coilor coils.

The first and second primary coils are adapted to transfer said powerand data during inductive coupling, at electromagnetic radiationfrequencies, between the first primary coil or coils and the secondarycoil or coils. The power is transferred when the inductive coupling isclosely adjacent inductive coupling, wherein the primary and secondarycoils are closely adjacent to each other, and wherein a data link forthe transfer of the data is established when the primary and secondarycoils are closely adjacent inductively coupled, and wherein the datatransferred between the primary and secondary coils when the inductivecoupling is between the closely adjacent inductive coupling and nearinductive coupling, wherein the near inductive coupling is constrainedby factors including the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation in theinductive coupling when the wavelength is used in the formulalamda/(2×pi) to determine an outer range limit of the near inductivecoupling, as attenuated by attenuation of the radiation and power levelsof the power transfer.

The primary coils may be mounted on the apparel in positions chosen fromthe group including but not limited to: torso, collar, shoulder, wrist,helmet front surface. The secondary coils may be advantageously mountedon the independent devices so as to optimize their closely adjacentinductive coupling and their near inductive coupling of the secondarycoils to their corresponding primary coils when in aforesaid positions.

In one embodiment instead of a single primary coil matched for couplingto a single secondary coil, each include a pair of coils. Thus one ofthe coils in each pair of coils is adapted for transfer of only powerand the other coil in each pair of coils is adapted for transfer of onlydata.

In embodiments where the power levels are sub-watt, the range limit ofthe near inductive coupling is substantially one metre. The closeinductive coupling may be substantially in the range of approximately0-3 centimetres.

Within each pair of coils on the primary side, and within each pair ofcoils on the secondary side, one coil then will be a data transfer coiland the other a power transfer coil) In such embodiments the primaryprocessor may be adapted to: (a) shut-off power from the main powersource to the at least one primary coil when the data transfer indicatesthat the secondary battery is charged or the at least one secondary coilis not in position for the closely adjacent inductive coupling as may bedetermined by a proximity sensor for example, or by polling, and, (b)continuously continue the transfer of the data between the at least oneprimary and secondary coils until the range limit of the near inductivecoupling is exceeded and the near inductive coupling between any one ofthe at least one primary coil and a corresponding secondary coil, upondetection, for example by the proximity sensor or by polling of acorresponding closely adjacent inductive coupling between the two.

A plurality of primary coils may be distributed about the apparel. Aplurality of secondary coils may then be provided on a correspondingnumber of the independent devices, wherein the independent devices areadapted to dock for closely adjacent inductive coupling with theircorresponding primary coils. The closely adjacent inductive coupling forsaid docking of the independent devices may include docking in pocketson the apparel, wherein at least one primary coil is mounted in thepocket. The pockets may be modular, and may include inserts in which theprimary coils are mounted.

The independent devices may be chosen from the group of categoriescomprising: torso sub-systems which include sectioned pieces of appareland layered separate pieces of apparel, helmet sub-systems, weaponsub-systems.

The transfer of the data may include a networked transfer of databetween a plurality of said independent devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings similar reference numerals denotecorresponding parts in each view in which;

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the four electromagnetic prior art coupling modesfor data communications, and in particular FIG. 1 a represents theconductive electromagnetic coupling mode, FIG. 1 b represents theradiative coupling mode, FIG. 1 c represents the capacitive couplingmode, and FIG. 1 d represents the inductive coupling mode.

FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates the interconnection of componentsused in the United States Army Land Warrior system showing the twelvecables required to join the components.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing an example of the combined pathselectromagnetic coupling modes that may be found on a soldier systemdata transmission.

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic block diagram showing inductive powerand data transfer using a single coil on each of the primary andsecondary sides.

FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic block diagram showing inductive powerand data transfer using separate coils on each of the primary andsecondary sides.

FIG. 6 a is a representation of a three axis or orthogonal threedimensional cubic design inductive coil with a solid ferrite cubic core.

FIG. 6 b is a representation of three axis or orthogonal coils wrappedaround corresponding ferrite rods.

FIG. 6 c is a representation of three axis orthogonal circular coilswrapped around corresponding ferrite rings.

FIG. 7 a represents a simple air-backed air core coil mounted on handheld device which is shown in outline in perspective view.

FIG. 7 b is the hand held device of FIG. 7 a illustrating an example ofa three-dimensional cubic antenna.

FIG. 7 c is the hand held device of FIG. 7 a showing the use of a 3Dferrite rod antenna where the rods have been separated.

FIG. 7 d is the hand held device of FIG. 7 a showing three sphericalthree element 3D antennas which have been separated.

FIG. 8 a is a simplified representation of the magnetic flux linesaround linear sections of primary and secondary inductive coils, and inparticular illustrates an energized air-backed lower coil radiatingmagnetic flux symmetrically around it and thus showing how the uppersecondary coil intercepts only a small amount of the magnetic field.

FIG. 8 b is also a simplified illustration of the magnetic flux linesaround linear sections of primary, lower, and secondary, upper,inductive coils placed in close proximity, showing the use of a thinferrite backing behind the coils and illustrating how the magnetic fluxis increasingly directional so that the ferrite backing of the secondarycoil enhances the concentration of magnetic flux passing through thecoil.

FIG. 9 a illustrates the coils of FIG. 8 a brought into closer proximityon opposite sides of a piece of non-conductive, non-magnetic materialshowing how, because of the closer proximity, the upper, secondary coilintercepts a greater amount of the magnetic flux from the lower primarycoil even though the magnetic flux is symmetrical.

FIG. 9 b illustrates the coils and their proximity of FIG. 9 a whereinthe coils each have a thin ferrite backing, and wherein the magneticflux is illustrated to show that in close proximity, the increasinglydirectional flux results in a very high level of magnetic couplingbetween the primary and secondary coils as would be the case when a handheld device having a secondary coil is inserted into a pocket inserthaving a primary coil and aligned so as to be substantially coaxial.

FIG. 10 a is, in exploded view, a hand held device having secondarycoils inductively couple with corresponding primary coils on a pocketinsert when the hand held device is contained within the insert.

FIG. 10 b illustrates the combination of hand held device and pocketinsert of FIG. 10 a, once assembled, and the combination inserted into agarment pocket.

FIG. 11 is, in perspective view, a representation of a solider wearing asoldier system which includes a load carriage vest having a central ormain battery, and pockets with inductive data and inductive powertransfer, and also showing inductive data transfer to a helmet subsystemand weapons subsystem.

FIG. 12 is, in perspective view, the soldier of FIG. 11 in a crouchedposition taking cover behind a wall and using the inductive datacoupling between the weapon sighting subsystem and the inductive datacoupling between a hand held device such as a personal digitalassistant, radio, or the like to view through the weapon sightingsubsystem, to communicate from, or to take, transmit or stream still orvideo images from the weapon sighting subsystem or the hand held deviceor a helmet mounted sub-system, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The modern soldier of today as exemplified by soldier systems fieldedsuch as Land Warrior (US), IDz (Germany), Felin (France) and others mayconsist as seen diagrammatically in FIG. 2 of a central computingdevice, or CPU 1, perhaps including an enhanced computer sub-system 2,connected by electrical cables 6 to distributed devices such as radios8, GPS 12, weapon subsystem 4, electronic sighting system 5, input orpointing device 7, keyboard 10, inertial navigation 11, helmet subsystem13, enhanced noise reduction equipment 14, night vision viewer 15, andsoldier battlefield data terminal and tactical displays 9, and in somesystems a central power supply that is a rechargeable high capacitybattery 3. The wiring harness of cables 6 that provides all necessarydata and power interconnects between the distributed equipment istypically constructed from cables that 0.25″ in diameter. The cables arestiff so the internal wires do not bend easily and fatigue. Consequentlythe wires are inflexible. They frequently meet at large over-moldedjunctions. The cables are terminated with substantial militaryspecification connectors that are long and bulky. The cables must conveypower and data between devices carried on the torso hand-held devicesand to those mounted on the helmet and weapon sub-systems (collectivelyreferred to herein as independent devices) through cables usuallyreferred to as umbilicals or tethers. The stiff cables for hand helddevices that are stowed on the torso make manipulation of the devicesvery difficult and place stresses on the interconnection points. Inaddition the routing of cables through and under garments createsignificant overall discomfort especially when a load such as a pack isplaced over them. The cable passing to the weapon and the helmet isknown to constantly cause snags, unintentional disconnects and are ageneral nuisance to the soldier. In total, the Land Warrior systemrequires twelve interconnection cables.

Future soldier systems must address the shortcomings of existing systemsto provide higher levels of usability and general associated humanfactors. Technologies that have been identified to accomplish thisundertaking are the use of e-textiles such as that manufactured byIntelligent Textiles, UK, that provides a fabric thin, supple backplanelayer within a load carriage or tactical vest that provides power anddata connectivity for the soldier system. To eliminate the wires thatrun to handheld devices and the weapon and helmet subsystems, I haveidentified that power may be transmitted wirelessly using inductivepower transfer and describe herein that data may also be transmittedinductively, providing a system without umbilical, tethers or externalwires connecting devices. Thus as seen in FIG. 3, base radio transmitter23 is coupled to soldier system radio receiver and integrated inductivedata transmitter/receiver 32 by radiative coupling. The integratedinductive data transmitter/receiver is inductively coupled with soldiersystem inductive pocket transmitter/receiver 33, which, as describedbelow, is merely one example of where and how the inductive coupling tothe subsystems may be accomplished. Inductive pockettransmitter/receiver 33 is conductively coupled to soldier systeme-textile harness 21, again, as set out below, which is just anotherexample of a conductive coupling device which may be used. E-textileharness 21 is conductively coupled to soldier system CPU 1.

For a soldier system, magnetic flux inductive data transmission offersthe advantage that it can perform short range data exchange without awired or physical connection. Inductive coupling has excellent materialpenetration capabilities. It can penetrate non-magnetic materials suchas air, water, body tissue, fabric, soft armour panels, and plastic. Asno exposed electrical contacts are required for inductive data transferor inductive power charging, the primary side of the inductive circuitslocated on the soldier can be fully encapsulated and environmentallyruggedized. As the secondary side device circuit is contained within thetarget independent device, the independent device can now besemi-permanently sealed and ruggedized as frequent data cable couplingand battery replacement is not required. This enables the inductivepower and data transfer enabled devices be full submersed in water, andbe impervious to exposure to ice, snow, mud, dust, dirt, sand, etc aswell as battlefield petroleum, oils and lubricants (POL's).

Low power, sub-watt design inductive coupled devices have a limitedcommunication range for example in the order of one metre. For-on bodysoldier system applications this is advantageous as it provides thecapability for limited or fixed range communication while limiting thepossibility of interception of the communication interference from otherindependent devices on the soldier system. This is important wheninductive data transmission is used in a soldier system which hassensitivity to power consumption and especially when inductivetransmission is compared to a wired connection which consumes no power.

For low-frequency applications analog tools and building blocks can beused. Circuits can use existing electronic components and IC's. Forexample, low-cost transceiver can be implemented by adding a resonanttank (LC) to a microcontroller with a PWM and comparator. Using aminimum of components and a single frequency band, the inductive datatransfer components are able to support half duplex bidirectionalcommunication.

As discussed in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/922,788 andpublished under publication No. 20090218884, it is possible to power adata device using inductive power transfer. This when combined withinductive data transfer provides very useful wireless connectivity for asoldiers electronic devices within a soldier system.

The propagating medium plays a major role in the performance of theinductive communications link. It should be stressed that magnetic fieldbehaviour is not the same as for electromagnetic waves normallyassociated with RF communications. Electromagnetic waves propagate forlong distances in free space. The RF electromagnetic wave is, however,susceptible to scattering and distortion. Magnetic field lines, however,are less prone to distortion and known to penetrate water andnonconductive, non magnetic materials very well. A magnetic fieldattenuates more rapidly when compared to an electromagnetic wave, whichis a benefit for a soldier system versus when using conventional radiotechnology such as Bluetooth™, Zigbee™ or other short range RFtechnologies. These low power RF devices can be intercepted using highpower receivers and directional antennas at over a kilometre in distanceand as such are not a communication technology preferred by themilitary.

Inductive transmit and receive coils may be thought of as aweakly-coupled transformer, across which data may be transmitted bymodulating the source (or transmitter) and detecting the modulatedsignal at the receiver. Typical frequencies in the low frequency rangefor the inductively coupled data transmission are between 100-500 kHzand can be used for low baud data rate of up to 9.6 kbps, and in thehigh frequency range 13.56 MHz is used when high baud rate datatransmission of up to 424 kbps are required. The US Army has identifiedrequired data rates of between 9.6 Kbps for physiological statusmonitors to 256 Kbps for weapon ballistics computation. Baud rates ofgreater than 80 Kbps second are required if low resolution streamingvideo is to be supported, with a baud rate of 256 Kbps for fullstreaming video. It has been determined that high quality audiotransmissions can be made with data rates of 30-40 kpbs.

An inductive data communication system that uses the 13.56 MHz frequencyrange is allowed by national and international communication regulatoryagencies such as the FAA or in Europe the European Conference of Postaland Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) that have set asidespecific frequency ranges for applications such as industrial,scientific or medical applications (ISM), for very short range devices.

In designing a magnetically coupled data transfer system, one has thechoice of implementing any one of a large variety of modulation andencoding formats. Typical modulation methods may use, but are notlimited to ASK (Amplitude Shift Keying) or other standard formats anditerations such as FSK (Frequency Shift Keying), OOK (On-Off Keying),PSK (Phase Shift Keying) and DPK (Differential Phase Shift Keyed)etcetera.

Encoding of the data stream could also be performed by many existingmethods including but not limited too Manchester, Miller, PIE and theirvariants, etcetera.

Drive Circuitry

One of the most efficient methods to drive an inductive resonant tankcircuit is a drive circuit that employs either a Full or Half-Bridgeswitching technology. One gets good results with a half bridge, and ithas the advantage of being low cost. The use of a serial resonant tankcircuits and high Q serial resonant circuit may have advantages.

One circuit design example is where a device such as a microprocessorsends data encoded for serial transmission to a data driver transistorthat turns on and off very rapidly and by so doing modulates the coilvoltage across the tuned LC circuit. The modulated signal is transmittedby the primary side coil across the loosely coupled inductive link tothe secondary coil where it generates an AC signal that is rectified anddecoded back to serial data. Example simplified block schematics areprovided in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram where power and data istransferred inductively using only a single primary coil andcorresponding single secondary coil, being coils 47 and 64 respectively.In FIG. 4, a primary side is to the left of the magnetic flux lines 48and secondary side is to the right of the magnetic flux lines. Magneticflux lines 48 illustrate the inductive coupling across the air gapbetween the primary and secondary coils. On the primary side, a DC powersource 3 provides power to both a power bridge driver 46 and tankcircuit oscillator sub-circuit 45. Proximity sensor or polling processor44 cooperates with oscillator sub-circuit 45 so that the oscillatorsub-circuit 45 is only enabled when the secondary side is in proximitywhether detected by a proximity sensor or by polling intermittently viaoscillator sub-circuit 45. With oscillator sub-circuit 45 enabled, highpower bridge driver 46 drives coil 47 so as to inductively couple withthe secondary coil 64 across magnetic flux 48. When it is desired totransmit data, the transfer of power is discontinued or disabled and thecommunication data in/out port 41 provides data in and out of primarydata processor driver/receiver 42. The data driver cooperates withoscillator sub-circuit 45 to thereby modulate primary coil 47 for thesending of data to the secondary side. As also part of the primaryinductive power and data drive circuit 40, a primary side data signalconditioner 43 cooperates between primary coil 47 and primary dataprocessor driver/receiver 42.

On the secondary side, as part of the secondary inductive power and datacircuit 60, the AC signal received by secondary coil 64 via magneticflux 48, is rectified within AC/DC rectification sub-circuit 63.Rectification circuit 63 cooperates with battery charging sub-circuit 62which in turn provides charging to device rechargeable battery 61.Battery 14 provides power to the secondary side data processorreceiver/driver 69. Secondary side data processor receiver/driver 69cooperates with battery charging circuit 62, the receiver side ofreceiver/driver 69 cooperating with secondary side data signalconditioner 67, and the driver side of receiver/driver 69 cooperatingwith data signal oscillator 68. Data signal conditioner 67 cooperateswith secondary coil 64. Oscillator 68 cooperates with low power bridgedriver 65. Proximity trigger or, if employed, for example, a pollingprocessor in place of the proximity trigger, collectively referred to byreference numeral 66, cooperates with low power bridge driver 65. Datafrom data processer receiver/driver 69 is transferred in and out ofsecondary inductive power and data circuit 60 via data in/out 70.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram wherein the inductivetransfer of power and data is accomplished using separate primary andsecondary coil pairs. Although the power transfer coils and datatransfer coils are illustrated as being physically separate, that is,non-concentric, it is understood that this is not intended to belimiting in that the power transfer coils and data transfer coils may beconcentric and adjacent, concentric and embedded, concentric and layeredone behind the other, or interleaved and having adjacent ferritebackings to name just a few examples.

Thus as seen in FIG. 5, as already described in respect of FIG. 4, poweris transferred from primary coil 49 to secondary coil 50 across magneticflux 48. A power source 3 from SMBus central rechargeable battery 3 orpower management system provides power for a high power bridge driver 46which provides power to primary coil 49. In the embodiment employingeither proximity sensing or polling to detect the presence of secondarycoil 50, a proximity sensor 44, for example, a hall sensor using theso-called hall effect for proximity sensing of the secondary side or apolling processor as described above, cooperates with a tank circuitoscillator sub-circuit 45 which in turn cooperates with high powerbridge driver 46. On the secondary side of the power transfer, ACrectification sub-circuit 63 cooperates with secondary coil 50, andprovides a rectified voltage to battery charging circuit 62. Again, asdescribed above, battery charging circuit 62 supplies power to rechargedevice rechargeable battery 61, battery 61 providing power for soldiercarried electronic devices such as those described above which include,and are intended to be limiting, weapons subsystem 4, electronicsighting system 5, input or pointing device 7, radio or radios 8, battlefield tactical display 9, keyboard 10, inertial navigation 11, GPSnavigation 12, helmet subsystem 13, noise reduction device or circuitry14, night vision viewer 15, all of which cooperating with centralprocessing unit 1 and enhanced computer subsystems 2. Thus in thediagrammatic view of the data transmission in a soldier system of FIG.3, the primary side of the inductive coupling may include coils 47 or83, and the secondary side may include coils 64 or 84.

Returning now to FIG. 5, for the data processing and transfer, data istransferred into and out of the primary inductive drive circuit viacommunication data in/out 41 which cooperates with primary dataprocessor driver/receiver 42. The driver side cooperates with a primarydata oscillator 81 which in turn cooperates with a primary low powerdata bridge driver 82 which itself cooperates with the primary datacommunications coil 83. The receiver side of data processor 42cooperates with data signal conditioner 43 which in turn cooperates withprimary data communications coil 83. Data is transferred via magneticflux 30 across the air gap over which magnetic flux 30 extends, betweenprimary data communications coil 83 and the corresponding secondary datacommunications coil 84. On the secondary side, within the secondaryinductive power and data circuit 87, secondary data communications coil84 cooperates with both low power data bridge driver 85 and with datasignal conditioner 67. Data signal conditioner 67 cooperates with thereceiver side of data processor driver/receiver 69. The driver sidecooperates with secondary data oscillator 86, which in turn cooperateswith low power data bridge driver 85. Secondary side data processordriver/receiver 69 cooperates with data in/out 70 so as to transfer databack and forth between data processor 69 and the soldier carriedelectronic devices, for example, those of independent devices FIG. 2,referred to by reference numerals 1-15, or those of Table 1.

The coil or antenna configuration for the transfer of the magneticenergy can take many forms. For example, as described above in respectof FIG. 4, a single coil used for inductive power transfer may also bemodulated to provide data transfer. This may only transfer low leveldata such as distributed battery power levels and simple textrequirements, although this is not intended to be limiting. As describedin respect of FIG. 5, two coils on each of the primary and secondaryside of the inductively coupled circuit may be employed for both powerand data transmission. On the primary side of the inductive circuit onecoil would provide power transmission and the other data transmission totheir mating coils on the secondary side. This technique allows powerfor charging of batteries to be turned on and off independently of datatransmission. The data transmission may thus for example always be on.The power transfer coils could be used for inductive power transfer atfrequency at for example 150 kHz while the data transfer coils operatingat frequency of for example 13.56 MHz could be used for inductive datatransfer. By using appropriate filtering neither of the frequencieswould interfere with the other. This would also allow each of the powerand data circuits to be optimised for each function.

The primary and secondary inductive coils or antennas can be produced inmany different materials for example but not limited too being wirewound using conventional enamelled copper magnet wire, or multi-filamentLitz wire, coil designs etched into single, double sided or multi-layerprinted circuit boards, single double sided or milt-layer flexiblesubstrates such as Mylar™, Kapton™, polyamides, polyesters etc can be ofany geometric shape.

Coil geometry for either the primary or secondary inductive data coilmay be a three-dimensional (3D) coils such as seen in FIGS. 6 a-6 c sothat conditions are optimised for signal reception between the primaryand secondary coils when they are not aligned in parallel. Inparticular, in FIG. 6 a, three-dimensional coil 90 includes z-axis cubicantenna windings 92, x-axis cubic antenna windings 93, and y-axis cubicantenna windings 94. In FIG. 6 b, y-axis cylindrical antenna windings102 are wound on y-axis ferrite rod 101, z-axis cylindrical antennawindings 104 are wound on z-axis ferrite rod 103, and x-axis cylindricalantenna windings 106 are wound on x-axis ferrite rod 105. In FIG. 6 c,the spherical 3D coils 110 include z-axis circular antenna windings 112wound z-axis ferrite ring 111, x-axis circular antenna windings 114wound on x-axis ferrite ring 113, and y-axis circular antenna windings116 wound on y-axis ferrite ring 115. Due to the many locations on thetorso that a hand held or data device may be located and the variationsin the size and shape of the independent devices themselves, thetransmit and receive antennas for either the primary or secondaryinductive data circuits would be placed and aligned to optimize theirfunction and coupling distance when for example the data is beingtransferred when the hand held device is remote from its primary side.The antenna may be planar (2D), 2.5 dimensional or a three dimensionalorthogonal antenna, and be constructed from any of the multitude ofrigid or conformal antenna technologies available including air backed,ferrite backed, ferrite rod and ferrite core. The limit of the range ofthe inductive communications becomes a function of the transmittedpower, antenna diameter or configuration and the Q factor of the coupledantennas. FIGS. 7 a-7 d illustrates various secondary coils or antennaspositioned in a generic handheld device 120. As may be seen, and withoutintending to be limiting, there are a large variety of antenna types andinstallation options. FIG. 7 a shows a simple air backed air core coil.FIG. 7 b includes an example of a 3D cubic antenna. FIG. 7 c shows a 3Dferrite rod antenna 100 where the rods have been separated from thecluster configuration of FIG. 6 b to three separate elements on each ofthe three orthogonal axis. FIG. 7 d illustrates spherical three element3D antenna 110 where the rings and circular windings have been splitinto each of the three elements.

For the purpose of the following discussions the primary inductive datacircuit is defined as the data processing circuit that is located on thesoldier and the secondary inductive data circuit is located in theindependent device. It should be understood that in practise the primarycircuit when transmitting data is often understood to be the initiatingcircuit and the secondary or receiving circuit is the target circuit.The respective roles of the circuits may then change as the secondarycircuit in the independent device may, depending on its function, nowtransmit data back to the primary circuit located on the soldier. Thedevices and the docking unit may communicate in half duplex.

Inductive data transfer as with inductive power transfer also employsvicinity inductive coupling within near field or more specifically theradian sphere. The magnetic flux of a typical inductive data circuitwith a central operating frequency of 13.56 MHz has a wavelength of 22m. Inductive coupling for practical data transmission purposes occurs nofurther than the near field-far field transition or radian sphere whichis approximately defined as λ/2π (lambda/(2×pi)) or for 13.56 MHz atheoretical maximum range of 3.5 m. In practise, because of the very lowpower levels utilised and because the magnetic field attenuates at arate following the inverse cube law, a practical low power independenthand-held device 120 has a range limit of about one metre. This isconsiderably unlike inductive power transfer requirements which to bereasonably efficient are in close proximity typically (less than 1-2cm), with power levels of 1-5 watts for handheld devices. It isunderstood that the proximity estimates for data transfer (one metre)and for power transfer (1-2 cm) are not intended to limit, as withoptimization of antenna design, location, sensitivity of thetransmitter/receiver circuits, etc, those distances may upon furtherdevelopment be increased.

One method of creating an inductive data link is to utilise NFCtechnology which uses an inductive link to enable connectivity betweendevices. NFC technology is an open architecture technology based on theECMA 340 and 352 connectivity standards. ECMA 340 specifies a magneticinduction interface operating at 13.56 MHz and with data rates of 106,212, 424 kbps and if required 848 kbps or higher.

Although envisioned primarily for future soldiers, other applicationscould be land-mine and bomb technicians where inductive communicationswould allow communication to occur even when RF jamming is being used toprevent detonation of those explosive devices. Tactical Police andSpecial forces would be able to use inductive communications either whenRF jamming is being used and if radio silence where to be used so thatintercepts could not take place. These and other first responders arereferred to collectively herein as soldiers.

Data transfer is not just limited to between a soldier and the equipmentthe soldier is carrying. It could also take place anywhere inductivepower transfer is required such as between a soldier and a vehicle orbetween a pilot and aircraft seat, at which time data could also betransferred inductively.

Another application would see the install of multiple coils on theperimeter of a vehicle for example an exterior horizontal perimeter. Thevehicle would inductively couple with soldiers or other nearby vehiclesor aircraft without physical contact and would allow communications tooccur during RF jamming events. This would allow soldiers to both departand approach vehicles and remain in communication with the vehicle crew,when if dependent solely on RF communications they would otherwise notbe able to communicate. The inductive communication would work over arange of 0-25 m and would be very difficult to intercept at distances ofmore than 25 meters. Again, these distances are estimates and notintended to be limiting.

A significant requirement for inductive data transfer would be that itnot interfere with conventional military or civilian radio transmittersand receivers. Again because the inductive coupling is operating in theelectro-magnetic frequency spectrum it would not cause any interferencewith devices operating in RF spectrum.

As discussed earlier, capacitive coupling could also be used forwireless or non contact data transmission on a soldier system. Asdiscussed above, capacitive coupling is the transmission ofelectromagnetic energy from one circuit to another through mutualcapacitance and is similar in overall effect to that of mutual inductivecoupling. One key difference between inductive and capacitive couplingis that capacitive coupling favours the transfer of higher-frequencysignal components, while inductive favours lower frequency elements.

Overall Power And Data Transmission Configuration

When using an inductively coupled device for the future soldier, bothpower and data as required can be provided without wires or RF signalsbetween the primary node on the solider and the secondary node on adevice or subsystem. Some designs may dictate that the communications ofentire subsystems may be integrated and power and data be sent over asingle node. This could be applied for example to the weapons subsystemor helmet subsystem both of which have multiple devices requiring powerand data.

Conversely, power and data primary and secondary coils can be entirelyseparate systems.

Typical independent devices representative of those carried by a soldierthat would use inductive power and inductive data transfer are presentedin Table 1, broken down by Torso, Weapon, and Helmet sub-systemcategories. As used herein, the term independent device is also intendedto include other items of apparel, that is, second pieces of apparelwhich are overlaid onto or under so as to be layered with the garment orapparel having the primary coils and circuitry.

In one embodiment the NFC system would be operated in activecommunication mode, versus passive, where both the primary (initiator)and the secondary (target) communicate with the other by alternatelygenerating their own inductive data field in what is effectively apeer-to-peer mode of operation. A significant operational feature of NFCis that it removes the need for user intervention to establish pairingbetween devices. Two enabled NFC devices connect and perform a handshakeroutine that allows data exchange simply by being brought close enoughtogether. Its application for data transfer between a soldier andelectronic independent devices that the soldier is carrying (forexample, the three sub-system categories of Table 1) have not to theapplicant's knowledge been previously envisioned, whereby the soldierconnects a device requiring communications simply by placing it withinproximity of a primary side data circuit/coil and thereby rapidlyestablishes a data connection between the primary and secondary datacircuits.

Once the two devices enabled with NFC technology have been broughtwithin close proximity, usually a few centimetres, they automaticallypair, and then with appropriate antenna circuits, as would be known toone skilled in the art, can be separated by for example lm as discussedabove for continued communication. In practise, when an independenthand-held device 120 is placed within or near to its correspondingcarrying pocket 122 mounted on an outer garment 150, such as a loadcarriage vest or protective ballistic vest, the primary and secondarydata circuits handshake and form a data communications link“A”(illustrated by way of example in FIG. 12). The soldier may then takethe device 120, such as the PDA device of FIG. 12, out of the pocket 122and use it as a handheld device with practical separation distances offor example up to 1 m without breaking the inductive data communicationslink A. This is typically far greater than the distance afforded asoldier when he must use a handheld device that is hard wired via acable and connector to a communications data stream from a prior arttorso mounted soldier system. In addition the soldier can move thewireless device around quickly. With a wired device care must be takenwhen removing a handheld device from a pocket so that the cable is notseparated from the device or that the connection is stressed. With themilitary requirement for cables being one of ruggedness, in practicethis is difficult to do as the cable is stiff and heavy, while theconnector is bulky.

Consider having to remove a wired handheld device from a pocket withoutbeing able to physically disconnect so as to not lose the data stream.The wired device must be removed from the pocket, which may have severalflaps to allow the device and cable to be extricated. Care must be takenso the cable can be withdrawn from the vest without straining theconnection. The cable may have insufficient length to let the wireddevice be used in a comfortable position. To stow the wired device thecable must usually be threaded back into the vest until the wired devicecan be returned to the pocket, after which the multiple flaps must besecured. Now consider having to conduct this operation while under fire,with gloved hands, while moving through bush or foliage that can snag orentangle the cable to the wired device and while also carrying a weapon.The considerable advantage of inductive data communication is that aftera device 120 is paired with a pocket 122 it can be quickly andefficiently removed from the pocket with a simple closure, data can beobtained, received or transmitted, and then device 120 may be returnedto pocket. The present improvement to the soldier system may thus reducethe damage to device 120 as compared to the use of a wired device, andmay reduce bad communications and may reduce distraction for thesoldier.

Further yet, consider a soldier's mission where the soldier is in avolatile and dangerous environment. It may be raining, and so the groundmay be muddy. The soldier may be conducting a recon of a small villagein a hostile area. As seen in FIG. 12, the soldier has taken coverbehind a low wall. He waits in a crouched or kneeling position in themud. In this hypothetical, the soldier can just see where men (notshown) are standing around an object (not shown) on the ground. Hecannot make out what the object is, as it is over 100 m away.

The soldier is equipped with a soldier system which includes theimprovements according to aspects of the present invention. He pulls uphis weapon 4′ so he can look through the weapon's sighting sub-system 5.An indicator (not shown) shows he still has a strong inductive datalink. He sights the target through the sighting sub-system, which actsas a telescopic lens. He can now tell that the object on the ground isan IED. With the push of a button on the weapon 4′, the image, GPSlocation and distance to target may be relayed by the soldier to forwardcommand. The soldier may also pull out his tactical personal digitalassistant (PDA) 120′ and takes a photo of the men and IED and may entersome text. The soldier then may pass the PDA to another soldier who hasa view from a different angle, who may then also take a photo, and alsoenter some text. In this hypothetical, while passing back the PDA, thePDA is dropped in the mud. Once the PDA is picked up by the firstsoldier, soldier checks and sees that the inductive data link was brokenwhen he handed off the PDA. The soldier then touches the PDA to thePDA's pocket 122 and quickly pairs and reconnects to his soldier system.He enters one last text string and sends the message via the soldiersystem to forward command while he places the PDA back in its pocket.The soldier observes that the men are leaving with the IED. The soldierstarts to receive a downlink from a repositioned drone, which will trackthe men and the IED from a comfortable distance.

Using prior art cable connections most if not all of this, albeitfictional, hypothetical scenario would not have been possible for tworeasons. In applicant's experience, the umbilicals in the prior art aretoo short to allow use of some devices, without a loss of connections,when lying or squatting. For example, in the above scenario, the soldierlikely could not have pulled his weapon up so he could look through thescope because the sight's data umbilical would have caught under thefront of his load carriage vest. If he pulled hard, the breakawayconnector would part as he moved his rifle into position to sight thetarget. Without the cable connected he could not relay the daytime videoimage. When he tried to pull his tactical PDA out, so that he could takea photo and send it with text to alert forward command, the data cableto the PDA (which may only be about 30 cm long) would be about 30 cm tooshort and he wouldn't have been able to get the PDA to the wall withoutmoving up and likely being seen. When the PDA was handed off and fellinto the mud, the PDA's connector port would have become plugged withmud, rendering it temporarily inoperable.

When an independent device 120 (such as a PDA, radio or GPS etc.) isclosely docked, that is when each handheld device 120 is placed anddocked within its own pocket 122 or other docking station so as toinductively couple the primary coils (83,49) in the pocket with thesecondary coils (84,50) on the device, due to the close proximity of theprimary and secondary coil structures of the inductive data circuits asrepresented in FIG. 9 b the magnetic flux will be substantially fullycontained between the device and its corresponding pocket. In FIGS. 8 aand 9 a an air backed primary inductive coil 130 is shown parallel to anair backed secondary inductive coil 132 are mounted on, respectively,non-magnetic non-conductive enclosures 131,133, on opposite sides of asection of non-magnetic non-conductive material 136. The primary coilgenerates a symmetric magnetic flux 135. In FIGS. 8 b and 9 b, theprimary and secondary coils each have a ferrite backing 137. When thecoils are only loosely coupled such as in FIG. 8 b, the magnetic fluxlines become concentrated as represented by concentrated flux lines 138having stray flux 139 not contained by ferrite backings 137. When thecoils are closely coupled such as in FIG. 9 b, the ferrite backedprimary coil 140 and ferrite backed secondary coil 141 generate highlyconcentrated flux, again as represented by concentrated flux lines 138having much reduced stray flux 139.

Close coupling of the coils, by for example the use of devices 120mounted in pockets 122 provides three benefits. The first is that as thecoils will be highly coupled data transmission rates can be very high.The second is that as the majority of the magnetic flux is containedwithin the coil structures there is very little stray magnetic flux,allowing two pocket-docked devices, each enabled with inductive datatransfer capability to be placed adjacent to each other withoutinterfering with each other. The third benefit is that the data couplingwill inherently be secure with a high level of security againsteavesdropping as the magnetic flux is essentially contained with nointerceptable emission.

The need may arise where for example a central data processor mayrequire pairing and transmit and receive data from two remote devices.In this instance anti collision data processing would be required.

The hand-held devices that are provided with inductive datacommunication may include, but are not intended to be limited too, anyhand held device placed within a pocket permanently attached to apparel,between a data device and a modular pocket (that is, a pocket that canbe attached to any location on a garment), between a central dataprocessing module that interfaces with a CPU, between the collar orshoulder and devices mounted on a helmet, between a wrist strap andattachable/detachable devices, between a weapons sub-system and thetorso and directly between two discrete devices. Each pocket may bepermanently or modularly affixed to a piece of apparel such as pants,jacket, shirt, jacket, load carriage vest, ballistic protective vest,biological chemical warfare garment etc. The primary data circuit may belocated on the inside of the garment, that is not within the pocket, orit may be located within a fabricated insert such as insert 33, that hasbeen placed inside the pocket or it may be a removable circuit that ispotted, placed within a plastic enclosure or otherwise protectedmechanically and environmentally. In either instance, the device towhich data communication is to be established and maintained is placedwithin the pocket, meeting the close proximity requirements required toestablish near field communications. Once docked and paired the devicecan be removed from the pocket and held at a distance for example up to1 m or typically an arms length from the torso.

Pocket insert 33, as seen by way of example in FIGS. 10 a and 10 b maybe of a non conductive, non magnetic material 131, for example ofplastic, glass or carbon fibre structure etc, which is form fitting toboth the inside dimensions of pocket 122 and the device 120 placed (indirection B) within it. The side of device 120 which contains thesecondary inductive data circuit 87 a and coil 84 may be placed into thepocket insert 33 against the side of the insert 33 which contains theprimary inductive data circuit 123 and coil 83. To ensure the device 120is held securely adjacent to the insert 33, the insert 33 may contactthe device 120 on a further second, third or fourth side of the device,for example, the back, bottom and front or in another instance thefront, back and each side of the device. The pocket insert provides bothalignment of the primary and secondary coils 83,84 when the device isstowed and further mechanical protection to the device. In the case of2D antennas or coils, an optimal design would allow both the primary andsecondary data coils to be co-axially aligned when the device is placedwithin the pocket insert. The insert may also contain a primaryinductive power circuit 125 and associated primary coils 49 with whichto provide wireless inductive power to a secondary coil 50 andassociated battery charging circuits within the device. The device 120,encased in insert 33, may collectively be stowed (direction C) in pocket122.

In another iteration, the pocket which could be made from fabric, formedfoam or other materials has fabricated within it a sleeve or innerpocket within which the primary circuit could be placed. The primarycircuit would be encased in a potting compound, plastic or othermaterial enclosure that is non conductive and non magnetic and would beplaced within the pocket sleeve. This would also ensure positivealignment of the primary and secondary data circuit to allow an initialhandshake or pairing to be performed.

The modular pocket is very similar to the fixed pocket however with amodular pocket the primary data circuit is located within the pocketusing only an insert or sleeve within the pocket, as the primary circuitwill now move with the pocket if it is relocated on the vest or apparel.

Another location a device may be attached to a person is on the wrist. Apower and data conductor may be run down the arm to a wrist strapdocking station that holds a removable device such as a GPS, PDA ormulti-purpose device. Primary inductive power and data circuit arelocated within the strap, the primary wrist strap inductive data circuitpairs with the secondary inductive data circuit within the device whenit is docked to the wrist strap. Once the device is paired, data willcontinue to be transferred to the device when it is undocked from thewrist and is handheld. An iteration of the wrist mounted primary circuitcould be a power and data circuit mounted within the sleeve cuff of agarment or apparel. The cuff must only be proximal to the wrist mounteddevice to pair and can then exchange data either in this position or ifremoved and is handheld.

A further application is to transfer data between a user and a weaponssub-system. The weapon for example the weapon 4′ of FIG. 12, upon whichmay be mounted various thermal, video and other sensors requiring dataexchange may have a secondary inductive data coil and circuit 84 mountedwithin or on the butt of the weapon. The primary circuit 83 may belocated in the shoulder, hip or other suitable location. When the weaponis for example, initially brought to the shoulder or placed into itscarry position across the front of the soldier's torso, the inductivedata circuit 83 and inductive data circuit 84 would pair, then allow thecontinued exchange of data as the weapon is brought away from theshoulder or carry position, for example as seen in FIG. 12. A furtheroption would be for two devices to directly pair, for example, for theweapons video, thermal or infra-red imaging sub-system to pair directlywith a video display on the helmet or other heads-up-display. All ofthese implementations and many others would allow the removal of theumbilical or tethered connection between the soldier and the weapon orhand-held device and reduce snagging, unintentional disconnects andother associated nuisance problems experienced with a modern weaponsub-system.

Another application would be the transfer of data between a soldier andelectronic devices worn on the soldier's head directly or devices wornupon a helmet. The primary data transfer circuit could be located forexample on the garment on the upper chest, on either shoulder or bothshoulders, the upper back or within a collar, shoulder pad or otherfabricated element that was permanently attached to or removable fromthe garment. The secondary data coil and circuitry may then be locatedon either the inside or outside of the helmet on either a planar surfaceor an edge such as the brim. The secondary circuit could be eitherattached semi-permanently with fasteners such as screws, bolts, adhesiveor be attached to allow its easy removal using hook and loop tape,elastic, webbing, chin strap or be attached to a helmet cover or thesuch.

A further embodiment may be the inductive transfer of data between twogarments, for example an undergarment layered adjacent an over-garment,such as a load carriage vest placed over a ballistic protective vest.The data circuits need not necessarily be co-located however to maintainhigh data rates and continuous data transfer without interruption fromanti-collision processes they should be located proximally. For lowprofile requirements the coils can be as simple as two thin air coilsprinted on Mylar which would be compliant and comfortable.

Another garment embodiment would permit passing data between separatefront and back garment components on a sectioned piece of apparel whichmay provide for rapid doffing of the sections, for example front andback sections from the soldier. An example of this would be a protectivetactical vest with discrete front and back components that are designedto be either adjustable or fall apart from one another at the waist andshoulder in an emergency. While being worn, the separate sections mayusing the present inductive coupling still transfer between them powerand/or data. With limited space available on a vest for all the load asoldier is required to carry, both the front and back surfaces of thevest become populated with electronics. Although the front and back of asoldier system can be designed to each have their own central powersource, invariably data devices on the front and back will require dataexchange or communication capability across the separation between thefront and back garment parts. As with data connectivity between twogarments, the primary and secondary data circuits and coils need notnecessarily be coaxially located however to maintain high data rates andcontinuous data transfer without interruption from anti-collisionprocesses they should be located proximally that is adjacent to eachother. For low profile requirements the coils can be as simple as twothin air coils printed on Mylar which would again be compliant andcomfortable.

When a soldier is wearing a biological chemical warfare protectivegarment in a life threatening environment the soldier would be able topass both power and data inductively through the protective garment.This would allow the transmission of data through the protective fabricwithout introducing openings or vias in the garment that may be thenbecome susceptible to penetration by chemical biological warfare agents.

A requirement for inductive data transfer would likely be that it notinterfere with conventional military or civilian radio transmitters andreceivers. Again because the inductive coupling according to the presentinvention is operating in the electro-magnetic frequency spectrum itwould not cause interference with devices operating in RF spectrum. Dueto the fact that inductive coupling uses the electro-magnetic spectrumit does not interfere with RF communications, nor can it be jammed byRF. Therefore, when in an RF denied area whether to prevent thetriggering of IED or otherwise, inductive power and especially inductivecommunications and data transmission would be unaffected.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of theforegoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible inthe practice of this invention without departing from the spirit orscope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to beconstrued in accordance with the substance defined by the followingclaims.

1. An inductively coupled power and data transmission system for asoldier system comprising: a main power source adapted for portablewearing by a soldier, apparel having an electrical conductor mountedtherein in electrical communication with said main power source, saidapparel having a first inductively couplable power and data transmissionsub-system including at least one electrically conductive primary coilelectrically connected to said main power source by said electricalconductor, and further including a primary processor and a primarytransmitter/receiver sub-system cooperating between said main powersource and said at least one primary coil so as to regulate power tosaid at least one primary coil and transmission of power and data bysaid at least one primary coil and reception of data by said at leastone primary coil, an independent device having a second inductivelycouplable power and data transmission sub-system including at least oneelectrically conductive secondary coil, a secondary battery, a secondaryprocessor, and a secondary transmitter/receiver sub-system, wherein saidat least one secondary coil is electrically connected to said secondarybattery and wherein said secondary processor and said secondarytransmitter/receiver sub-system cooperate between said secondary batteryand said at least one secondary coil so as to regulate reception ofpower and data by said at least one secondary coil and transmission ofdata from said secondary processor by said at least one secondary coilsaid at least one electrically conductive first and second primary coilsadapted to transfer said power and data during inductive coupling atelectromagnetic radiation frequencies between said at least oneelectrically conductive first primary coil and said at least oneelectrically conductive secondary coil, wherein, said power istransferred when said inductive coupling is closely adjacent inductivecoupling wherein said at least one primary and secondary coils areclosely adjacent to each other, and wherein a data link for saidtransfer of said data is established when said at least one primary andsecondary coils are said closely adjacent inductively coupled, andwherein said data is transferred between said at least one primary andsecondary coils when said inductive coupling is between said closelyadjacent inductive coupling and near inductive coupling, wherein saidnear inductive coupling is constrained by factors including thewavelength, lamda, of electromagnetic radiation in said inductivecoupling when said wavelength is used in the formula lamda/(2×pi) todetermine an outer range limit of said near inductive coupling, asattenuated by attenuation of said radiation and power levels of saidpower transfer.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least oneprimary coil is mounted on said apparel in positions chosen from thegroup including: torso, collar, shoulder, wrist, helmet front surface;and wherein said at least one secondary coil is mounted on saidindependent device so as to optimize said closely adjacent inductivecoupling and said near inductive coupling of said at least one secondarycoil to said at least one primary coil when in said position.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein said at least one primary coil and said atleast one secondary coil each include a pair of coils, one of which ofsaid coils of said pair of coils adapted for said transfer of said powerand the other of which of said coils of said pair of coils adapted forsaid transfer of said data.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said rangelimit of said near inductive coupling is substantially one metre, andwherein said power levels are sub-watt power levels.
 5. The system ofclaim 4 wherein said close inductive coupling is substantially in therange of approximately 0-3 centimetres.
 6. The system of claim 3 whereinsaid range limit of said near inductive coupling is substantially onemetre, and wherein said power levels are sub-watt power levels.
 7. Thesystem of claim 3 wherein said coil of said pair of coils for saidtransfer of said data is a data transfer coil and wherein said coil ofsaid pair of coils for said transfer of said power is a power transfercoil, and wherein said primary processor is adapted to: (a) shut-offsaid power from said main power source to said at least one primary coilwhen said data transfer indicates that said secondary battery is chargedor said at least one secondary coil is not in position for said closelyadjacent inductive coupling, and, (b) continuously continue saidtransfer of said data between said at least one primary and secondarycoils until said range limit of said near inductive coupling is exceededand said near inductive coupling terminated, and, (c) automaticallyre-establish said inductive coupling between any one of said at leastone primary coil and a corresponding secondary coil of said at least onesecondary coil upon detection of a corresponding said closely adjacentinductive coupling between the two.
 8. The system of claim 1 whereinsaid primary processor is adapted to: (a) shut-off said power from saidmain power source to said at least one primary coil when said datatransfer indicates that said secondary battery is charged or said atleast one secondary coil is not in position for said closely adjacentinductive coupling, or said transfer of said data is to take place onthe same coil as said transfer of said power, and, (b) continue saidtransfer of said data between said at least one primary and secondarycoils until said transfer of power is to take place on the same coil, oruntil said range limit of said near inductive coupling is exceeded andsaid near inductive coupling terminated, and, (c) automaticallyre-establish said inductive coupling between any one of said at leastone primary coil and a corresponding secondary coil of said at least onesecondary coil upon detection of a corresponding said closely adjacentinductive coupling between the two.
 9. The system of claim 1 whereinsaid at least one primary coil is a plurality of primary coilsdistributed about said apparel and wherein said at least one secondarycoil is a plurality of secondary coils on a corresponding number of saidindependent devices, wherein said independent devices are adapted todock for said closely adjacent inductive coupling with correspondingsaid primary coils.
 10. The system of claim 9 wherein said closelyadjacent inductive coupling for said docking of said independent devicesinclude docking in pockets on said apparel, wherein at least one primarycoil of said plurality of primary coils is mounted in said pocket. 11.The system of claim 7 wherein said at least one primary coil is aplurality of primary coils distributed about said apparel and whereinsaid at least one secondary coil is a plurality of secondary coils on acorresponding number of said independent devices, wherein saidindependent devices are adapted to dock for said closely adjacentinductive coupling with corresponding said primary coils.
 12. The systemof claim 11 wherein said closely adjacent inductive coupling for saiddocking of said independent devices include docking in pockets on saidapparel, wherein at least one primary coil of said plurality of primarycoils is mounted in said pocket.
 13. The system of claim 10 wherein saidpockets are modular and selectively removable from said apparel.
 14. Thesystem of claim 10 wherein said pockets further include inserts, andwherein at least one of said primary coils is mounted on each saidinsert.
 15. The system of claim 9 wherein said independent devices arechosen from the group of categories comprising: torso sub-systems,helmet sub-systems, weapon sub-systems.
 16. The system of claim 11wherein said independent devices are chosen from the group of categoriescomprising: torso sub-systems, helmet sub-systems, weapon sub-systems.17. The system of claim 15 wherein said main power source is arechargeable main battery.
 18. The system of claim 16 wherein said mainpower source is a rechargeable main battery.
 19. The system of claim 15wherein said transfer of said data includes a networked transfer of saiddata between a plurality of said independent devices.
 20. The system ofclaim 15 wherein said transfer of said data includes a networkedtransfer of said data between a plurality of said independent devices.21. The system of claim 11 wherein said power levels are sub-watt powerlevels.
 22. The system of claim 1 wherein said apparel is a first pieceof apparel and wherein said independent device is a second piece ofapparel.
 23. The system of claim 22 wherein said second piece of apparelis layered adjacent said first piece of apparel.
 24. The system of claim22 wherein said first piece of apparel is a first section of a sectionedpiece of apparel, and wherein said second piece of apparel is a secondsection of said sectioned piece of apparel such that said sectionedpiece of apparel when worn by the soldier provides said transfer of saidpower and said data between said sections, and wherein said sections areselectively detachable from one another for doffing said sectioned pieceof apparel.